[SOLVED] No output after unplugging cable while pc off ?

[General_Cool]

Since moving to college I don’t use my home PC much anymore (its about 5/6 years old), I usually turn off the power supply using the switch and unplug it from the wall to protect it from power surges while I’m gone.

After getting home and not having used it for about a month I turn everything back on as per usual, however I noticed that my secondary SSD (I have a boot SSD, storage SSD, and storage HDD) was not detecting in Windows or in the BIOS. Thus I decided to turn everything off (using the buttons and then unplugging it while it was completely off), unplug everything including my HDMI and mDP cables connected to my monitors and my GTX 1080, and look inside to unplug and replug in all of my SATA cables and their power cords. Once I was done with that, I put everything back together and turned the PC back on.

The PC booted as per usual however there was no signal on either monitor. I tried connecting the power cables to the motherboard (PC was off while doing this) and still no signal. Checked inside the PC again, cleaned some dust, reseated the card, checked its cables, checked the power supply cables, and tried again with no success. Finally, I decided to see if my PC was frozen and realized that the hard reset button on the case (Phanteks P400S) was not working, confirming my suspicions.

Why did the simple act of unplugging some cables while the PC was completely off detonate my PC? Why did the SSD not show up in the BIOS after a normal bootup from something I do all the time?

At a loss currently since I feel like the internet is of no use for this specific situation.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What are your FULL hardware specs, including EXACT power supply model and how long roughly that power supply has been in service?

Cases can't do a "hard reset". A hard reset needs to be done manually. I'd recommend that you try doing so, as follows:

BIOS Hard Reset procedure

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for about three to five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery AND in your case, I'd recommend removing the graphics card anyhow for the simple purpose of re-seating it.

During that five minutes while the CMOS battery is out of the motherboard, press the power button on the case, continuously, for 15-30 seconds, in order to deplete any residual charge that might be present in the CMOS circuit. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as Memory XMP, A-XMP or D.O.C.P profile settings, custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

It is probably also worth mentioning that for anything that might require an attempt to DO a hard reset in the first place, IF the problem is related to a lack of video signal, it is a GOOD IDEA to try a different type of display as many systems will not work properly for some reason with displayport configurations. It is worth trying HDMI if you are having no display or lack of visual ability to enter the BIOS, or no signal messages.

Trying a different monitor as well, if possible, is also a good idea if there is a lack of display. It happens.

 

[Lutfij]

Since moving to college I don’t use my home PC much anymore (its about 5/6 years old), I usually turn off the power supply using the switch and unplug it from the wall to protect it from power surges while I’m gone.
That's good practice, actually!

We're going to need a little more information, please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

 

[General_Cool]

Specs: (See my update below)

CPU: i7-6700K @ 4.8GHz
Motherboard: ASUS Z170-PRO
Ram: Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-2400 in 4GB sticks
Boot SSD: Intel 500GB
Storage SSD: Crucial 500GB
HDD: WD Blue 1TB
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080 FE
PSU: EVGA Supernova 80+ Platinum 650w
Chassis: Phanteks P400S
OS: Windows 10

Hi guys! Thank you very much for the responses. I have an update.

I reset the BIOS using my motherboards reset button but that didn’t work. I realized afterward I hadn’t troubleshot one thing; my RAM sticks. After removing all of them and putting them back in one by one I discovered my motherboards A2 slot was shot. A1, B1, and B2 all work fine, and all four RAM sticks work as I tried all of them in the A1 slot individually. Other than that, I fixed the issue with the SSD and the computer now boots like nothing is wrong (except with 12gb of ram now).

Is there any software troubleshooting I can do in the BIOS regarding that ram slot or is it in the hands of a warranty repair/new board? Also confused why the SSD not showing up in Windows and me reseating the SATA cable somehow equated to the bombing of the A2 ram slot.

P.S. to Lutfij: If you could move this to the RAM or Motherboard subforum I would appreciate it since the question no longer relates to GPUs. Thank you!

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you have a bad DIMM slot, and you've eliminated the memory itself as being the problem because every DIMM works in every other slot, but not that one, then really it can only be the motherboard, the CPU or the installation of the CPU cooler. If the system has been moved around it's possible for the CPU cooler to potentially have become loose on one side or corner, depending on the type of cooler, or something happening with the hardware.

I'd remove the cooler, double check the pins on the motherboard, clean and repaste the cooler and reinstall it, to see if perhaps that's the deal. Or at least double check the cooler mounting hardware. When a pin breaks contact it can act like a bad DIMM slot, or memory module, or ten other things. If not, then I'd say an upgrade is in your future because the chances of finding a replacement motherboard that isn't used and already has a life of miles on it is pretty doubtful, and any new old stock out there from Skylake is going to be ridiculous in price IF you can even find one.

Any Z170 board is now well out of warranty, since motherboards typically have only a three year warranty and any Z170 board is now long past that, and repair isn't really feasible. I've never heard of anybody sending a board in for actual repair and having that done. Generally it's just warranty replacement and by now these are end of life so it's unlikely, although you can always try. The cost of such a thing though would probably be extremely prohibitive and not make sense. It would be money better put towards a newer platform.

 

[General_Cool]

If you have a bad DIMM slot, and you've eliminated the memory itself as being the problem because every DIMM works in every other slot, but not that one, then really it can only be the motherboard, the CPU or the installation of the CPU cooler. If the system has been moved around it's possible for the CPU cooler to potentially have become loose on one side or corner, depending on the type of cooler, or something happening with the hardware.

I'd remove the cooler, double check the pins on the motherboard, clean and repaste the cooler and reinstall it, to see if perhaps that's the deal. Or at least double check the cooler mounting hardware. When a pin breaks contact it can act like a bad DIMM slot, or memory module, or ten other things.

Very interesting! I had no idea about this little quirk with CPU coolers. The computer was moved out of its desk cubby when I checked inside it so it was a possibility that this was the cause. I have a Corsair Hydro Series H115i installed in there right now. When I checked the mounting, everything felt rock solid and sturdy, and did not move at all when I pushed on them or tried to move them around, so I do not think that is the issue. The CPU is a possibility, but like I said the computer works excellently now.

Something I think I should note; for the past year or two of using this PC, it has often slowed to a crawl and gave all the signs of bad memory (screen going black, flashing, Windows having memory errors, Windows struggling to even load task manager, etc.) that were fixed upon restart or clearing up space on my drives. I had always attributed it to a storage problem with Windows, but now it is clicking that it was a bad DIMM slot. The computer, oddly enough, now feels faster with less RAM now than it did with more. I should have known better then, but hindsight is 20/20.

If not, then I'd say an upgrade is in your future because the chances of finding a replacement motherboard that isn't used and already has a life of miles on it is pretty doubtful, and any new old stock out there from Skylake is going to be ridiculous in price IF you can even find one.

Any Z170 board is now well out of warranty, since motherboards typically have only a three year warranty and any Z170 board is now long past that, and repair isn't really feasible. I've never heard of anybody sending a board in for actual repair and having that done. Generally it's just warranty replacement and by now these are end of life so it's unlikely, although you can always try. The cost of such a thing though would probably be extremely prohibitive and not make sense. It would be money better put towards a newer platform.

I realized last night after mentioning the warranty that the three years was up (time goes by so fast!). Since I rarely use this computer now and I don't game that much anymore, I think I will leave it be with the 12 gigs of ram. Thankfully, I have an old Gigabyte board in my basement that is in pristine condition. If worse comes to worse and this ASUS board croaks, I have a replacement. It would be too sad to let my old 6700 go to rest. ;(

 

[Darkbreeze]

The CPU is a possibility, but like I said the computer works excellently now.

Actually, it doesn't, because if it DID you'd be able to use the A2 slot. Running a high end system in single channel without the full memory capacity that it ought to have, isn't running excellently. Running? Yes. Excellently? Not really.

Are you sure the Gigabyte board is compatible with your CPU? What is the model of the board? If it IS compatible, then it's certainly worth trying.

 

[General_Cool]

Running a high end system in single channel without the full memory capacity that it ought to have, isn't running excellently.

Ok you have a point. But to be fair, compared to it not POSTing at all, and the freezing issues I was having with Windows before, this is great.

Are you sure the Gigabyte board is compatible with your CPU? What is the model of the board? If it IS compatible, then it's certainly worth trying.

It's the board that was in the PC previously, I ended up swapping it out only because I liked ASUS's BIOS better for overclocking. I'll probably end up swapping it when I'm home again during winter break and I have time. Until then, the computer works and that's all that I was looking for.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, glad it got sorted to where you are at least happy with it for now anyhow. Good luck Cool.

 

[General_Cool]

Well, glad it got sorted to where you are at least happy with it for now anyhow. Good luck Cool.

Thank you! Have a good one. Also, marked your answer as correct.

 

[Darkbreeze]